Polish journalist Poczobut's trial begins

Published on 14 June 2011 at 09:17

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“Hooded court,” headlines Gazeta Wyborcza showing on its frontpage a photograph of a gagged Andrzej Poczobut, the Warsaw daily’s correspondent in Belarus, whose trial begins today in Minsk. He has been jailed since March 28 and stands accused of insulting Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. His trial will be secret because “dirty work has to been done secretly”, Gazeta writes, adding that on trial will be “free speech, hope and the Belarusian dream of freedom”. Belarus is a country where “an allegedly public trial is held behind closed doors, a journalist doing his job is a criminal, truth is a lie and lie becomes truth”. If found guilty, Poczobut could face up to four years in prison.

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